AARP launches campaign to improve long-term care
Tennessee is “dead last as far as providing alternatives for older and disabled people — that is alternatives to nursing homes,” said Brian McGuire, the group’s Tennessee legislative director.
“We think the whole thing needs to change,” he said.
In Tennessee, some $938 million will be spent this fiscal year on nursing homes, compared to $33 million for home and community-based services.
The yearly average cost for home or community-based service is about $18,000, compared to around $40,000 for a nursing home, he said.
Medicaid, through the TennCare program, pays for about 27,000 of the 39,000 people in nearly 350 nursing homes across the state.
There is no public support for about 180 assisted living facilities housing about 6,000 residents and limited public assistance for 2,800 residents in about 150 residential homes for the aged, AARP said.
“The bottom line is you can serve more people on less money if you provide the range of services so people are getting the appropriate level of care,” McGuire said.
The organization for people over age 50 is planning a three- to five-year campaign to change the way long-term care is delivered in Tennessee.
Formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, the AARP brings some clout to the enterprise. The organization has nearly 600,000 members in Tennessee, more than half of whom still work and more than three-quarters who vote.
In the past legislative session, the AARP successfully lobbied for sprinkler systems in nursing homes, raising personal allowances for Medicaid-subsidized nursing home residents and increasing jail time for elderly abuse.
Still, getting public support for long-term care reform may be difficult to pull off.
“Long-term care is something a lot of people prefer not to think about,” said Margot Seay, AARP’s regional impact team leader in Northeast Tennessee.
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On the Net:
AARP Tennessee, http://www.aarp.org/states/tn/
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Information from: Kingsport Times-News, http://www.timesnews.net